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2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

| I J. S. MELONE,Admil1iStIatriX. RUFFLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWINGMACHINES. No. 419,339.

(ModeL) Patented Jan. 14, 1890.

FIG-I.

N. PETERS. Phowhlhognpher. Washmghn. o. c.

(. Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,.

T. L. MELONE, Deod. J. S. MELONE, Administratrix. RUFFLING ATTACHMENTFOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 419,339. Patented Jan. 14, 1890.

N. PETERS. PROM-L thographer, Wmhinglcn, ILC.

' UNITED STATE-s.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS L. MELONE, OF OHILLIOOTHE, OHIO; JULIETTE S. MELONE ADMIN-ISTRATRIX OF SAID THOMAS L. MELONE, DECEASED.

' RUFFLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,339, dated January14, 1890.

Application filed December 24, 1887. Serial No. 258,860. (Modeh) To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS L.'l\/IELONE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chillicothe, in the county of Ross and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rufiling and PipingAttachments for Sewing-Machines, of .which the following is aspecification.

. My improvements primarily relate to ruf fling attachments adapted tobe operated from the swinging shuttle-arm of a sewing-machine, but arein part not limited to such a method of operation.

In applying mechanism for operating the ruffler from the swingingshuttle-arm to a machine in which the feed takes place partly after thestitch is drawn up the forward movement of the feed, after theshuttle-arm has reached the limit of its movement and before the needlehas entered the cloth, is apt to draw out a part of the ruffl'e,rendering the ruffler irregular and unreliable in its operation. Toavoid this difficultyI have devised a ruffling attachment adapted toreceive mo tion from both the swinging shuttle-arm and the swingingfeed-movement, so thatwhen the shuttle-arm has reached'its'ex'tremeposition the feed-movement will seize not only the goods, but take thewhole ruffling attachment with it andoarry all'forward to the end of itsstroke. This forward movement of the ruining attachment is made withoutinterfering with the movement of the shuttlearm, as it is simultaneouswith the commencement of the return movement of said arm.

In carrying out my improvements for ef- 'fecting the operation of theruflier from the combined action of the swinging shuttle-arm andswinging feed-movement I have also devised improvements in the devices,whether on-the resser-foot or on the base-plate of the ruffler; forguiding the ruffling and other strips to the needle.

In order that the invention may be better understood,I will proceed todescribe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in hich- FigureIis a perspective view of my imprOVed ruffler, showing its mode ofapplicati n to a sewing-machine. Fig. II is a plan f'the same inconnection with the automatic iguide mechanism. Fig. III is a side view,looking from the left of Fig. I. Fig. IV is a gperspective view of thepresser-foot, and Fig. :V is a bottom View of the base-plate of the:ruffler.

I have shown the improvements applied to a' Melone sewing-machine; butthey are equally applicable to any sewing-machine in which the feedtakes place partly after the completion of the stroke of the swingingshuttlearm.

1 represents the bed-plate or cloth-plate of such a machine; 2, theswinging shuttle-arm; .3, the dog or equivalent part of thefeedmovement; 4, the swinging feed-rod, and 5 its yoke, the last-namedpart having an arm 6 extending across to the rear side of the bedplateof the machine. 7 is the presser-bar;

8, the presser-foot secured thereto, and 9 the ;needle carriedby the bar10. With the exception of the presser-foot, these parts are shown merelyto illustrate the method of application of the improvements to a singleform of sewing-machine, they being of the represented or any preferredconstruction.

In the bed-plate of the machine I form a curved slot 11 toreoeive thewrist 12 of a connecting-rod 13, jointedf at 14 to a lever 15. Saidlever 15 is pivoted at 16 to the arm 17 of the base-plate17 of therufiling attachment, said base-plate being arranged to move in the wayof the shuttle-race slide when the latter is removed, and having aflange or lip 18 for actuation by the feed-movement. I have here shownthe end of the arm 6 provided with a groove or recess, into which theflange 18 is snapped when the attachment is applied to thesewing-machine, so that the said attachment will accompany the feed inits movement transversely of the machine.

19 is the rufliing-blade carried by a slide 20, connected to thebase-plate 17 by slots 21 and T-headed studs or. projections 22. Theruffling-blade is serrated at the portion bearing against the under sideof the presser-foot 8, so as to seize the cloth passing between the.

blade and presser-foot and carry it forward to the needle in advance ofthe feed dog or movement 3. The cloth to be ruffied is passed directlybetween the blade and foot, or is passed first through aguide 23 at theforward end of said foot. Ih this manner one edge a broad strip maybegathered or a narrow strip or band may be ruiiied or plaited. Theshorter arm of the lever is adapted to transmit motion to the slide bymeans of studs 2 l on said slide. The said shorter arm of the lever 15rests loosely between said studs, and by impact against them alternatelyreciprocates the slide. In order that the stroke of the slide maybevaried at pleasure, I have divided the end of the lever 15, bearing between said studs, as shown at 26, the member 26 pivoting on screw orrivet 16, and being fixed at any desired position by a set-screw 27,passing through slot 28.

, The presser-foot is cut away horizontally at 29 toreceivea band orstrip of cloth, which can thus be sewed over the rufiiing-strip. Thisband, coming nowhere in contact with the riifiiing-blade, is fed evenlythrough the machine. At rear of the needle-opening. a vertical way 29 isalso provided to allow the cloth to pass from the needle Without any ofthe downward pressure of the foot. It is observed that this form of footis adapted also to automatically turn over the edge of the band or strias it is passing to the needle in any page where it may be desired to doso. For purpose a forward curved projection 29" is made on the foot atone side.

301s the needle-opening and 31 is a slot formed in the front part of thepresser-foot in th'e rear of the guide 23, Through this slot piping maybe passed when it is desired to sew the same o simultaneously with themaking of thertiffie, v e

In the base-plate 17 oft-he ruffling attachriie'nt are also formedguides 32 33 to receive cloth of difierent widths and turn over the edgethereof when it is desired to sewthe ruffling-stri at the same operationto the main body of he cloth. p p I v The op "ati0n of the attachmentwill be se'e'n to be as f'ollowsz The ruining-strip being passed throughthe guide 23 and the varioiis pieces being placed in the special guides,as designated, and the machine started, the rufiling-plate, rcceivingmotion from the lever 15, will, before each descentof the needle, carryforwardthereto a portion of the niffling-s'trip in advance of the piececarried by the feed-dog .3, thus making the gather or ruffle. hen theruifling-blade has reached the limit of its motion toward the needle bymeans of the lever 15, the shuttle-arm having then reached the limit ofits stroke, the feed dog or movement 3 hasbut just commenced itsmovemem. To avoid the movement ofthe' feed-dog, therefore, fromcrumpling and disarrangingthe goods before the needle can deseend; thewhole rnffiing attachment is, by reason of its connection with the feedmove iiieht carried forward with the feed; and the cloth being clampedtherein, its several pieces are preserved from relative movement oneupon the other until the needle has entered them.

Inaddition to the rufliin g attachment above described,I have providedan automatic guide mechanism, which may be applied thereto at will, wheninstead of the ordinary ruffle a folded strip may be rufiied and sewedin an irregular or curvedline; Such a guide is shown at 34, pivoted to asupplemental baseplate 35 by screw or pivot 36. The plate 35 is fixed,when desired, to the base-plate 17 of the attachment by means of a stud37 and set-screw 38, entering holes in the plate 17.

39 is a ratchet-wheel pivoted on the stud or screw 40, fixed to theplate 35, and 41 is a pawl pivoted to the slide 20 and forced betweenthe teeth of the ratchet-wheel 39 by a spring 42, also secured to theslide 20 bya stud 42. At each reciprocation of the slide 20 theratchetwheel 39 wi1l be earned forward one teoth by the lever 15; H q p,7

3 S a can '0 eta e le e e my preferred shape turnihgaroiindthe stud orscrew and fixed at will to the ratchetwheel 39 by means at setjscrew44.; Against the face of the cam 43 the nos'e34 of uide 34 is forced bmeans o spri 45; o via de ih the movement of the slide2Oandboii'seq1ieilt rotation of the cam 43 the ferivard endbf guide 34will be forced to slowly travel back and forth over the line of theseam. Bands or strips of cloth, therefore; placed in the slots 46 insaid g u'iue yin. term m tte petun a such a manner as ,t-b be sewed tortiiiiingstrip in iy avbd or stamp d n; de en ng on the Shape of the.cam 47: 5. B P 'S fi g such bands or ripsdi eeny overthe rnfiiingblade ngen er with the serrated edgetter of t y ay b med, rb? itje zne i heseparate rufliing-strip betweenthem and the Priming-blade they may besewed evenly (star er m: t i.

Having thus described invention, the followingiswhatl ,cia m asnewtherein and desireto secure byLet-t e rs Patent: h v

. l-.. h qo biqa' i n; ith he bsq-p ii e a 'i s' te n he win g hame-fim; nd t ging e dr iii a ru ni a tachment sliding on the bed-plate andcon necting devices between the shuttle-arm and the attachment, and alsdbetween thefeedrod and the attachment; substantially as described. W

2. The combination, with the bed-'plate of e i -m ch n t wi ifi ham -aand the swinging feed-rod, of a rufiiin at tachinent sliding on thebedlate;hav1rig a base-plate connected with shuttle-arm and with thefeed-rod and a rufliing-slide connected with the shuttle-arm and slidingoh and with the base-plate, substantially as described; M H

3; The combination, with the bed plateof a sewing-machine, the swingingshlittle ar n; and the swinging feed rod, of a ruffiiiig attachmentsliding on the bed-plate, having a base-plate, a rufliing-slide slidingon and with the base-plate, and an operating-lever pivoted to thebase-plate and connected with the shuttle-arm and with therufiling-slide, the base-plate being connected with the feedrod,substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the bed-plate of a sewing-machine, the swingingshuttle-arm, and the swinging feed-rod,.ot' a ruffling attachmentsliding on the bed-plate, having a base-plate, a ruflling-slide providedwith stops and sliding on and with the base-plate, and anoperating-lever pivoted to the base-plate and connected with theshuttle-arm, having finger 26, the finger 25, pivoted to the baseplate,having set-screw 27 and slot 28, connection with the lever, and theconnectin -rod 13, the base-plate being connected with the feed-rod,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the bed-plate of a sewing-machine, the swingingshuttle-arm,

- and the swinging feed-rod, of a ruffling at tachment sliding on thebed-plate, having a base-plate formed with an end flange 18, the yoke 5,with which the feed-rod engages, having an arm 6, with which the endflange en gages, and a connecting device between the shuttlearm and theattachment, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the bed-plate 1, having a curved slot 11, theswinging shuttlearm 2, the swinging feed-rod 4, the feed-dog 3, the yoke5, having'arm 6, the base-plate 17, having flange 18, the slide 20,having blade and provided with stops 24, the lever 15, andconnecting-rod 13, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the feed-rod having an arm and a rufflingattachment consisting of a base-plate 17, having an end flange 18 andprovided with projections 22, the slide 20, having slots 21, studs 24,and blade 19, the le- 8. A ruffling attachment consisting of abase-plate 17, formed with arm 17 a and end flange 18 and provided withprojections 22, the slide 20, having slots 21 and provided with blade 19and studs 24, the lever 15, pivoted to the base-plate, having slot 28and finger 26, the finger 25, having set-screw 27, and theconnecting-rod 13, substantially as described.

9. The combination of the base-plate, the slide having a rufiling-blade,the guide, guidespring, the ratchet-wheel, the cam, the pawl, and theoperating-lever, substantially as described.

10. The combination of the base-plate, the slide havinga ruining-blade,the guide, guidespring, the ratchet-wheel, a cam detachably secured tothe ratchet-wheel, the pawl, and the operating lever, substantially asdescribed.

11. The combination of the base-plate, the slide having arufliing-blade, supplemental base-plate, the ratchet-wheel, the cam, theguide, guide-spring, the pawl, and the operating-lever, substantially asdescribed.

12. The combination of the base-plate, the supplemental base-plate, theguide pivoted to the supplemental baseplate, having a bearing-nose, theguide-spring, the ratchet-wheel, the cam,the slide havingaruffling-blade, the spring-pawl, and the operating-lever, substan tiallyas described.

THOMAS L. MELONE. Witnesses:

H. W. WOODROUS, M. J. TIMMONS.

